A/N. Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope you enjoy this silly one-shot.

This is dedicated to my amazing friend Evil-Kitty-Kat-666.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the camp

Not a trainee was stirring, well, except for Armin.

Armin turned over and sighed, thoughts of the next day invading his thoughts and rendering him unable to have a restful sleep. It was a ridiculous idea: none would understand the significance of that one day. Not even Armin did, not entirely. And how could he, when all he had were the faded words and books of his Grandfather? He pushed his covers off of him, resigned to getting no more sleep.

He stood and walked quietly to Eren's bed, then shook his blanket-covered body.

"Psst. Eren. Wake up." One of Eren's hands escaped the confines of his blanket, slapping at Armin. "Eren, get up. We need to talk. I'll be outside."

The sound of rustling blankets to Mikasa's left woke her. Eren was being shaken by an enemy! She tensed, ready to strike, but relaxed upon hearing Armin speaking. More rustling and footsteps, and Armin left. Soon after, and with a groan which was quickly cut off, she heard Eren follow outside.

Mikasa sat up as the door closed with a snick. Turning her head, she surveyed the others sleeping. Good. Armin had not woken anyone else. She knew that Armin often had big ideas during the night, but did not like that Eren had to miss some sleep just to hear this particular idea. Nothing could be more important than sleep at this time, especially when the others were so tired they had not reacted to sounds in the otherwise silent night. Sighing, she pushed off her blankets and went towards the window to sneak up on her two idiotic best friends.

She jumped out and caught herself on the ledge, before slowly lowering herself to the ground. On silent feet, she followed the hushed sounds of Armin and Eren towards the front of the building. Mikasa peeked around the corner to see Eren and Armin stood, deep in conversation, not even ten feet from the door of the building where the other squad members were asleep. Idiots. Did not even try to be stealthy. Then their words sunk in.

Armin was telling Eren a story? She frowned. Why would he make Eren suffer the cold for a bit of story time?

"Armin, the only big red guy that destroys things is the Colossal Type. And why would people tell their children stories about him destroying their home?" Eren asked, though he seemed uninterested in Armin's story.

"He doesn't destroy things. He gives people presents. And he's not a Titan!"

"But you said he sits on houses-"

"No, he goes down chimneys and leaves children presents and . . . It doesn't matter. My point was that the story happens on December 25th."

Mikasa rounded the corner, earning a squeak and a little jump from Eren. "We aren't children, Armin. And it's the middle of the night. Why the story?"

Armin turned to more easily see both Eren and Mikasa. "It was a story my Grandfather used to tell me. It happened on the same day as Squad Leader Levi's birthday. So, I was thinking we could have a party. You know, to show him how much we appreciate all that he's done for us."

Mikasa shot Armin a dark look. "No."

"But – "

"Hey guys! What was that?" Hanji flounced over, popping herself in the middle. "A party? I love parties! Is it for me?"

"Actually, Hanji," Armin began, after a glance at Eren and Mikasa told him they would not be explaining. "We thought we would throw a party for Levi and get everyone involved."

"And you wanted me to plan it? That's so sweet. You can call me your Overlord." Hanji jumped over to Armin, dragging him close and cuddling him. "We can use Titan body parts for decorations! It's too bad they don't have intestines, they could have been fun to hang from one side of the room to the other. . ."

"Maybe it would be better if we used what we can find. . ."

"Oh, fine. So here's what we'll do. . ."

From her changing vantage points within the large, wide room, Mikasa could see the bustling activity taking place over the next few hours. Sasha was promptly banished outside to hunt game to bring back and cook. After some arguing, she agreed, on the condition that Jean and Connie were her bitches for the rest of the food preparations.

Eren and Bertholdt concentrated on cleaning the room and hanging decorations from the ceiling, while Krista did her best to help despite Ymir looming over her.

Even Mikasa helped to convince a reluctant Jean to join in. "But, but, you can't seriously expect me to – oh, fine. But I'm not fluttering my eyelashes." She sputtered, as she was pushed across the room by Eren. She looked Jean in the eyes. "You need to help Connie and Sasha cook."

As she trudged away, muttering about how painful it was to talk to her admirer, she missed Jean's blush and smile of happiness.

Just then, as an alcohol-laden Reiner fell through the door with Armin in tow, Hanji's shout rang out.

"HE'S HEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEE!"

Levi shut the door behind him and was greeted by a squeaky-clean floor and walls, and a shout of "Happy Birthday!" from his squad, as well as an enthusiastic cuddle from Hanji. And though everyone knew Levi hated physical contact and didn't care who contributed what, each person came forward with a cuddle and an explanation of what they had contributed to make his party perfect.

He stewed over all of the contact, but listened to what each person said: from the cooking and cleaning and alcohol stolen from Pixis' stash, to Eren's idea of hanging mops and cleaning products all over the ceiling. The last one being one of the only gifts Levi would ever show excitement for. Finally, Levi crossed his arms over his chest. "What did you do, Four Eyes?"

Hanji gasped, and began pointing to different parts of the room. "I was the Overlord! Look, I helped there, and there, and there . . ."

Everyone tuned out Hanji's tirade, until the alcohol started to flow and the night got under way.

The next day . . .

For the first day in a long while, some much-loved members of the Survey Corps were not awake to see the dawn.

Sasha was lying face down in the food she, Connie and Jean had so lovingly prepared, one hand down and gripping something.

Connie was lying on the floor next to Sasha, both hands gripping what curiously looked like Erwin's hair.

Mikasa was in her 3D Manoeuvre Gear, handing upside-down from the ceiling, with an upside-down version of Pixis' moustache drawn on her right cheek.

Reiner was sat on top of Jean, one shoulder against the wall propping him upright, whilst wearing a pink cowboy hat.

Erwin was lying outside, one eyebrow shaved off and missing his toupee.

Bertholdt was lying on a crate, with his head and hands resting on the floor.

Hanji was drooling and mumbling in her sleep, spooned behind Armin whom, even in sleep, looked more terrified than when he faced the Titans.

Eren was lying on Levi, with a sign pinned to his back exclaiming that he was Levi's pet.

And their exalted squad leader was sleeping soundly, one thumb sucked into his mouth, and his other arm cuddling Eren like a big teddy bear.

A/N. Ooh, I wonder what could have happened for everyone to be in those positions the next day?

Thanks for reading!

I'd love to hear what you guys thought of this piece of majesty that my brain spat out, so feel free to leave me a review :)